Disinfection of Healthcare Equipment

In the medical industry, it’s important to make sure that all equipment, especially that which is shared between patients; is properly disinfected and maintained. Paragon Care understands how important proper disinfection is in any and all healthcare settings and can offer our clients both consumable and high quality equipment to help make sure their workplace is safe for both staff and patients. There are strict rules and guidelines that need to be followed when sanitizing equipment and when maintaining any medical device that may come in contact with multiple patients.

Health care environments are always going to be areas where dangerous pathogens or germs are able to be spread from person to person at an alarming rate if not mitigated appropriately. So it’s always important to make sure that all healthcare equipment is well maintained and santised both before and after use. How thoroughly equipment needs to be cleaned depends on how it is used.

Non-Critical

A medical device in this category only needs to be cleaned when visibly soiled or on a regular basis, such as between patients. Though it would also need to be cleaned especially after contact with a patient who may have a risk of contamination. Only a low level disinfectant is required for any healthcare equipment in this category.

These devices either do not come in direct contact with a patient, or only touch the outside of clean skin.

Semi-Critical

This category is for a medical device that comes into contact with mucous membranes such as those found in the nose, pharynx or esophagus or non-intact skin. This kind of healthcare equipment needs to be cleaned with high-level disinfectant, which kind of disinfectant you use will depend on the material that the device is made of as using strong chemicals on certain materials can degrade its quality.

Critical

This final category refers to medical devices that need to be fully sterilized before use on each patient due to the high risk of pathogen exposure. Sterilization is different to standard disinfection because it is designed to kill all microbial life, usually by steaming the relevant healthcare equipment in extreme heat. This section includes surgical equipment, catheters, and implants. Essentially, any equipment that comes in contact with any sterile body tissues and fluids, such as internal organs or the cardio-vascular system. Devices that are made mostly of plastic cannot be steamed as the martial is too fragile and may begin to melt under the heat. Therefore it can also be sterilized using chemical sterilants.

Regardless of what category your healthcare equipment falls into, it’s important to follow the relevant disinfection requirements to make sure that all any medical device you have is properly cleaned and maintained. After years of sterilization though, it is always possible that your equipment will begin to degrade and in this instance you will need to hire a technician to maintain your equipment or fully replace it.

At Paragon Care, we believe in supporting our customers throughout the entire life cycle of an asset. So any of your equipment that needs to be maintained or repaired due to extensive disinfection we also offer maintenance with our team of over 50 technicians across Australia and New Zealand, all of whom are fully trained to manufacturer’s certification.

We are trained in healthcare equipment repair and maintenance, and we also make sure to sanitize any devices that require santisation before sale and can guarantee that all products we offer are clean and ready for medical use. Making sure all your equipment is safe for use is more important than ever in the current climate.

For more information on the repair of healthcare equipment degraded by excess sanitization of the best type of disinfectant for each device, contact the team at Paragon Care today. We can help you with the process of maintaining your equipment, and providing you with products to help keep your current medical devices clean, including covers for parts that come in contact with patients and other products relating to infection control.